EDWARD DOUGLASS WHITE 533 to do with a jurist's tendency to render his decisions in ac- cordance with the apparent intent of the law or Constitution, or to base them upon more narrow, technical grounds. In one of his most famous opinions. Justice White demonstrated the former attitude, and again later in a minority decision. In fact, '^ again and again," says a recent writer,^ ^^ Justice White has differed from the majority of his colleagues and his dis- senting opinions have brought every resource of a powerful logician to bear upon the destructive analysis of the prevail- ing arguments." The Cleveland administration had passed an income tax law which was promptly attacked in the courts upon the ground of its unconstitutionality. The Federal Con- stitution provides that all direct taxes shall be laid in propor- tion to the population. By direct taxes the f ramers of the Constitution evidently had in mind land and poll taxes, the only direct taxes known to them, and an income tax, though direct, was manifestly not included nor implied. But a nar- row interpretation, such as was given by the majority of the Court, rendered the law unconstitutional and made necessary the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The third and, in this time of rapid social and industrial de- velopment, the most vital criterion for estimating a jurist has to do with whether he has the forward or static tendency ; with whether he appUes the law in accordance with new conditions or whether he has never learned that often in law as else- where, **Time makes ancient good uncouth." The famous Bakeshop case came up to the Supreme Court from the state of New York where a law regulating the length of the working day in bakeries had been attacked on the ground that it con- travened the constitutional provision insuring freedom of con- tract. Justice White voted with the minority in upholding the law, maintaining that under its police powers the legisla- tive branch of the state government was clearly within its jur- isdiction in enacting such a regulatory measure. His minority contention has since been vindicated in the very general tend- ency toward the acceptance of the broad principle which he declared. 1 Beview of Beviews 43 :4.
